Brussels, 30/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The American giant, Microsoft, has finally agreed with implementation arrangements for making the main changes requested by the European Commission for its new version of Windows XP. The European Union had decreed a little over a year ago that the American group was abusing its dominant position in the field of PC systems and had charged it with changing its commercial practices by imposing a record fine on it of EUR 497 million (see EUROPE of 25 March 2004). The main stumbling block was the automatic integration of the Windows Media Player in the Windows XP system, to the great displeasure of rival multimedia player software designers. The Commission asked the group, moreover, to divulge the information required for interoperability between Windows and competitive products. Microsoft had challenged this decision before the European Court of Justice which finally confirmed the Commission's decision last December and urged the American group to apply the sanctions. On Tuesday, Microsoft agreed to implement the recommended changes: “We have contacted the Commission and informed it that we have agreed to make the main changes asked of us to the Windows version without Media Player”, Horacio Gutierrez, associate legal adviser for Microsoft in Europe, said. The changes include technical changes and especially the removal from the directions for use of the warning that some products do not work without Media Player, he added. According to AFP, Microsoft had suggested several names to the Commission for the new version of Windows exempt from the multimedia software and the Commission accepted a denomination that adds the letter “N” to the editions marketed hitherto, i.e. “Windows XP Home Edition N” for the version intended for consumers and “Windows XP Professional Edition N” for the professional version. The Commission confirmed for its part that it had received a letter from Microsoft concerning ”technical issues”, and especially the renunciation of automatic inclusion of the Media Player in Windows XP. It does not, however, wish to comment on the substance of the letter which has still to be looked at in detail, it said. Earlier, Jonathan Todd, the spokesman for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, had pointed out that the Commission was busy analysing the results of market surveys on Microsoft's proposals regarding the Windows version without Media Player, in order to determine whether the two versions of Windows are equivalent from the performance angle.